Much Riding On Atlantic City’s Revel Casino

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (CBS) — They’re putting the finishing touches on Atlantic City’s newest casino, set to open in the spring.

The casino industry in Atlantic City has a lot riding on Revel, a $2.4 billion upscale casino hotel with a 150,000-square foot gaming hall, 1100 rooms, a dozen restaurants, a private beach—and a lot of people working there.

“Our recruitment center is working, at this point, five days a week. Very soon, they’ll be going to six days a week, and by July 4th, we’ll have a total of about 5500 employees,” says Maureen Siman, a Revel spokeswoman.

Work is ahead of schedule, so the planned mid-May ribbon-cutting may be moved up a bit. And the state is ponying up a quarter-billion dollars in tax credits to Revel, payable over 20 years once operations begin.

It’s hoped that the new facility might help revive business that’s been lagging for the last few years due to regional competition, mostly from Pennsylvania.